Can you ask Barclaycard to explain his bizarre decision to lower my husband’s credit limit from £ 6,500 to £ 250? He has held the card for many years and pays the balance in full each month. No explanation has been offered. We are retired and our income has not changed.
The only reason we can think of it is that we are involved in a long discussion with Barclaycard about a refund of £ 500 for a canceled flight with Iberia that we have booked. More than a year ago with the card.
A credit card with a credit limit of £ 250 is somewhat unnecessary. What on earth is happening?
SW, by email
If this is any comfort to you, you are by no means alone. At least 100,000 Barclaycard customers, many of them long-standing, would have been affected. Many – like you – have been given a totally unnecessary £ 250 credit limit.
This week the company – which is part of Barclays – tried to limit the Public relations fallout from these letters. It’s not nice when you tell clients over 50 that you are effectively abandoning them without a proper explanation. I could understand that if you were put on leave or owed large sums on other credit cards, but you are not.
Some claim that the bank targets customers who pay off their balance in full every month and therefore earn less money because they don’t pay interest. What he denied.
One thing I can clarify is that Barclaycard maintains that its position has nothing to do with your request for the theft under Section 75 which, in fairness, was properly denied on the basis that the theft canceled was booked through a travel agent.
He says the letters were sent following a review of his clients’ finances on his entire loan portfolio, “to make sure we are lending responsibly and that they are not borrowing more than ‘they cannot comfortably afford. In short, he seeks to limit his liabilities as the economy emerges from the Covid.
He says customers who feel they can afford a higher limit should appeal. They must provide the required proof of income before the end of May.
You can either go through the appeals process or simply apply for a new card from another provider. Those with a clean credit history and reasonable income will have no problem getting one elsewhere.
I know what I would do.
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